Missing Links

In Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly's low-rent golf novel Missing Links, life is played out at the Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Links and Deli (Ponky, for short). It's one of the world's worst courses, but it's home to pro Raymond ''Stick'' Hart and his happily dysfunctional family of linkspeople. With names like Thud, Two Down, and Hoover (because he sucks), these are guys who play gladiator golf, bet on anything, lie about sex, and laugh about it all. Their life at Ponky — rendered in prose that's part Damon Runyon, part Raymond Chandler, and part Caddyshack — comes apart over a bet that involves the sublime course next door, belonging to the exclusive Mayflower Country Club. This is definitely a book for guys or golfers — and I'm neither — but I was hooked for the full 18. A